Israeli justice

An Israeli military court has convicted a former Israeli soldier of manslaughter for killing a pro-Palestinian British activist in 2003.

Let's grant a few things:

Granted that Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is mediocre at best. (I know, there are those who say that Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is fascist, but I am not prepared to grant that.)

Granted that, given the facts of the case, manslaughter might possibly have been too lenient a verdict - it's at least debatable whether this guy murdered the Brit or not;

Granted that there may be other soldiers in the Israeli army who have done similar things and have not been prosecuted yet;

Granted that, although the shooter is an Arab, he was a soldier in the Israeli army and that Israel therefore bears some responsibility for the incident (I won't even object if you want to call it a crime);

Granted all that, I address myself to those who claim that the Jewish state of Israel has no right to exist and that the territory ought to be re-made as another Arab nation in the region.

If the situation were reversed, and a soldier in some Arab nation's army shot and killed a pro-Israeli activist under similar circumstances, I challenge you to seriously assert that there's one Arab government that would even put the shooter on trial, much less convict him. Admit it or not, you know that the shooter would become a national hero the very next day.

And for those of you who haven't made up your minds about the Mideast conflict - yes, both of you - the next time someone claims in your hearing that Israel is a fascist state conducting a program of genocide among the innocent Arabs to further its imperialist agenda, remember this incident, and remember that there is one state in the region that still abides by the rule of law. No one but Israel.

Benshlomo says, Close your mouth and open your eyes.